Chapter 8 Coming darkness
by James Neal
Summary: The Imperial agent known as Lyda Starkiller is introduced in this chapter. She has been looking for Mykala for months and has only now been given the lead she needs to find her. The only problem is that Mykala is hidden deep within the borders of Feloid controlled space, a non aligned area of space and also one of the best defended.


Chapter 8

The Coming Darkness

The shuttle made a pass over the village. The buildings were already on fire. The storm troopers under her command had followed her orders to the letter. They better had or she would have to make examples of them. At long last the Emperor had made his move and given her a commission. She finally had Imperial troops and equipment at her command. She was now Special Commander Lyda Starkiller under the direct control of The Emperor himself.

The shuttle landed at the edge of the village. As the boarding ramp lowered twenty fresh storm troopers ran down flanking both sides. Next came her personal body guards, Frek Teekum and Lenz Bartok. They were personally trained by her as sith guardians to be loyal only to her. They were Zabrack and proudly wore they fierce facial tattoos common to their warriors. Only when they had reached the bottom of the ramp did she appear. She wore a hooded black cloak that hid her features completely. Lyda had a flare for the dramatic and loved being the center of attention. She could see the surviving villagers had been herded into the town square. They had been made to sit and were being guarded by stormtroopers. She nodded to the flight officer of the shuttle who at that command turned a spot light on her. The only sound was the crackling of the burning village as all were transfixed on her now. With a sudden flourish she threw open her cloak and put her hands on her hips. She stood straight with her head cocked to one side slightly. She wore a bright red leather harness that was styled after the slave harness she was forced to wear years earlier. It covered just enough to not show her intimate parts but not much else. Lyda was like some evil goddess from some ancient tale. She walked down the ramp from the shuttle trailing her black cloak behind her. She was magnificent and she knew it. Her body was flawless and she had spent years training it to perfection. The villagers were in shock at the sight before them. They had not expected this beautiful vibrant woman to materialize from this machine of war.

The storm trooper's commander came forward to give his report.

"Commander Starkiller we have searched the village and no one here has any knowledge of Mykala's were abouts." the commander said saluting.

"You mean all these people are innocent."she said shocked.

"Yes Commander."said the storm trooper.

"Then we must make amends for this horrible mistake."She said.

The villagers all seemed relieved .

Lyda walked right into the center of the group of villagers. They all began to thank her for her mercy.

She put her hands out and slowly turned with her head held toward the night sky allowing each one to thank her. She closed her eyes and listened to there cries of thanks.

She suddenly stopped and posed almost as if she was suddenly surprised. The villagers all waited to hear what she was going to say next.

"I have an even better idea! I think we should kill them all to keep them silent."she began to laugh and nod her head at them wild eyed to show she meant it. Lyda pulled out her light sabers and began to wildly slash at the villagers. They tried to run but she was too quick and the ones that did get clear of the town square were struck down by her sith guards. It made no difference to her, women, children and elderly all fell under her assault. The carnage only lasted a few moments but it was complete. She stood laughing hysterically looking at the bodies and walked to the shuttle. She was still laughing when she reached Frek and Lenz." Did you see the looks on their faces? They thought I was going to let them live."Lyda continued up the ramp holding her stomach now sore from laughter.

The shuttle had entered the docking bay of the Black Heart, the assault frigate under her command. Lyda felt she should have been given a bigger ship but the Emperor had said her mission did not warrant a star destroyer class ship. That was fine; she had grown used to the Emperor making his agents work hard for his favors. She would work and she would have that star destroyer one day. Lyda had always worked hard. As an orphan she was sent to work on a farm of a new colony. The ship never made it, it crashed on Mongor. The local inhabitants were descendants of a Zabrak colony that fell on hard times after a meteorite struck the planet and left it a dust-strewn hell. The natives had become viscous and brutal over the years and killed most of the surviving colonists after the crash. Eventually only the children were left. They were used as slaves to haul mining carts and other harsh labor. Lyda was determined to survive at any cost. She began to hate the other survivors, the children of the grown ups that forced her to come on that fated journey. She would out live them all no matter what she had to do. Lyda offered herself to the male warriors for their pleasure. Eventually they took her away from the mines and began to accept her as one of their own. She was brutalized for years but didn't care. She would survive no matter what she had to endure. The natives gave her the name of _Star bringer_ for the pleasures she gave them.

One day the prisoners told her they had a plan to escape and they would bring her if she wanted to go. They had forgiven her for collaborating with their captors and said she could come with them. She was stunned, after all she had endured an gone through she could just go and it would be over. She wouldn't let that happen when she was this close to getting accepted by her captors. She knew if she left she would always be treated as the one that collaborated, a whore, she would not live like that. She would be ridiculed the rest of her life. She told the Zabrack of the plot in exchange for her gaining full membership into their group. They agreed but to prove herself she would have to kill the leader of the the escapees. When the time came and the prisoners were brought forth she killed all thirty of them leaving the leader for last so he could watch all of his friends die first.

The Zabrack natives were horrified and impressed at the same time. They started to call her _Star killer_ because of her violent ways. She gained a reputation for never taking prisoners and soon she was feared even by the ones that had enslaved her. Fearing a confrontation for rulership over the group the chieftain sent word to the sith that he had a promising candidate. The sith sent agents to bring her back with them. Lyda knew why she was being taken away and vowed to return and take over.

Lyda was trained in the ways of the dark Jedi and became a trusted enforcer. After many successful missions she was given permission to recruit some underlings. She went back to the Zabrack world of Mongor and trained two of her lovers to be able to work for her. Once she had done that she was invited to a celebration in her honor by the chieftain that had her taken away. He said how proud he was of her and she would always be welcome at his table. Lyda killed him on the spot and became their leader.

The shuttle landed without any problem. This was the first mission for the Black Heart under Lyda's command. The ship had several modifications done to it for her mission. Some of the weapons had been removed in order to gain room for equipment to increase the ships range and speed. It was now the fastest ship of it's class in the Imperial navy.

Lyda was hunting someone, she was hunting a Jedi named Mykala. Some time back Mykala had killed one of her lovers in a battle. Mykala escaped with the rest of her group but she soon tracked her down. Lyda had set a trap but only caught one of Mykala's friends. This was the second time Lyda's prey had slipped through her fingers. She had intended to use her friend as bait but her friend was kidnapped by a third party thus ruining her chance again. After months of searching she found out that Mykala was going to her home world to rescue the daughter of her friend who had died. This time she would not fail. She enlisted the help of several top bounty hunters that specialized in tracking Jedi. When the trap was sprung there was a huge battle and just before one of Mykala's friends was shot she pushed him out of the way and took the shot square in the chest. To everyone's amazement Mykayla disappeared in a flash. There was no body left at all she just disappeared. Lyda was forced to leave the battle since her prey was no longer there.

She exploded with rage but continued the search. She heard about a legend of a special Jedi that could not die. If the Jedi was killed in battle he would be teleported to safety unharmed to fight again. This delighted Lyda to no end if she caught Mykala she could kill her over and over as long as she could find out were she would be teleported. To be able to kill an opponent was good but to be able to torture and kill them over and over was a dream come true to Lyda Starkiller.

At last after all this time she had been given a gift. A traitor from the Feloid race had been tricked into giving the Empire the wrong information about Mykala. The traitor was reported killed for his stupidity but in reality he was given a second chance to redeem himself. He had friends in the Feloid navy that nobody knew about. They had reported back to him that the other captains sent on the same mission as him had all suddenly been called home. This was the chance they had been waiting for. It would be an easy task to follow each ship with a tracking droid. They could follow each one to their new destination and through the process of elimination find the ship Mykala was on.

Lyda had the Black Heart make full speed to Feloid space. Once at the border she would take a hand full of crack assassin droids and her Sith Guards to the location and capture Mykala.

She hadn't felt this excited for a long time. It was a risky plan but she had surprise on her side. The Rebels had no idea how important this was to the Emperor and the resources he would commit to it. She would have to be careful and not tip her hand until the last moment.

"Commander Starkiller, we have the location. Our droid has found Mykala and confirmed her location." said the captain.

Lyda slid down further into her seat. She lowered her head and interlocked her fingers placing her hands in front of her face. All anyone could see was her eyes. She studied the star chart in front of her. The location was flashing. It was deep inside Feloid territory and far to risky to take the Black Heart that deep into one of the heaviest guarded areas of space. That whole sector was under control of Maxis Ty's clan. His crack fleet would easily destroy her one ship.

She was so close to her prey and yet it was just out of reach.

"Captain, I need options. What can you tell me about this area?" Lyda asked still staring at the holographic chart.

"It will take some time Commander, little information is known about this area. Feloid space is non aligned so the charts and information in this area are unreliable to say the least." he said nervously.

Lyda sat motionless for sometime. She did not like this answer.

" You are right captain, we need more information on this area before there can be a plan." Lyda said reluctantly.

The captain sighed with relief. "How should we proceed Commander?"

Lyda wanted to charge in and take Mykayla right that moment but her ship would be blown out of the sky before they were half way there. She needed to be patient. Like a predator stalking her prey if she leapt from to far a distance she would alert her quarry and cause it to flee.

"Commander may I speak?" said a young officer. He was handsome and Lyda had been thinking about him the entire voyage.

"Yes Terfold, you may speak." she was looking at him as though he was her next meal. Her dark eyes trailed up and down his strong muscular frame.

"There is an ice field just outside the Berrit Nebula not two parsecs travel from our present position." he said noticing her longing glances. "It would be possible for us to push a large ice asteroid in front of us with our tractor beams until it resembled a comet."

"Go on." Lyda said with growing interest in the plan.

"We could easily set a coarse close to the hiding place and the Black Heart would be hidden in it's tail completely undetected." he said smiling with more confidence than one so young should have.

Lyda didn't reply. Always the center of attention she stood and slowly walked over to the holoscreen. The room was completely silent. She walked to the other side and smiled at her bodyguards, they new she was toying with the captain and crew. They all looked nervous and awaited her next words. Lyda walked lazily up to the captain and looked him up and down.

"Is this thing possible?" she asked staring into his eyes.

"Yes commander, it is a tricky maneuver but it can be done." he said.

She walked up to the young officer; he stood at attention not daring to move. Lyda walked around him slowly, gently brushing her body against his.

"Captain, make speed to the Berrit Nebula. I wish to make a comet." she suddenly spun around away from the young officer and with a gesture summoned him to go with her. The captain did not protest and Lyda left the bridge with the young officer in tow. The officer looked over his shoulder at the captain thinking this would accelerate his promotion, the captain thought otherwise.

The next two days went according to plan. The Black Heart was able to find an asteroid made of ice the appropriate size and push it into position with its tractor beams. The whole execution of this maneuver was done with out Lyda's guidance. She had been occupying her time with the young officer. The only contact she had with the captain was through her bodyguards. All messages were passed to her by them.

Lyda emerged from her quarters making an appearance on the bridge. There was no sign of the young officer and it was painfully obvious that the Captain never asked about him. The crew soon understood what the Captain knew two days ago. The officer thought he was going to spend a pleasurable evening sampling some of Lyda's ample delights. He couldn't have been more wrong. The Captain understood Lyda Starkiller from the moment they met. She was a monster. She delighted in making others suffer. She had only begun to push the boundaries of her new authority. The Captain understood the power play she was testing and he was the one being tested. She wanted to test his loyalty. Was he loyal to his crew or to her? Would he defend his crew or submit to her whims? The Captain submitted and never asked what he already knew, the officer was dead. He new it was done in some horrible and humiliating way and did not want to know the details. The young man was a fool. Did he really think he would flex his muscles and this creature would fall in love with him like a little girl? This was also a lesson to the crew who really ran this ship. The Captain was loyal to the Emperor and if he put her in charge than that was all he needed to know.

Lyda noticed that the Captain was standing. He never sat in the command chair. She smiled to herself with the knowledge that the Captain knew his place on this ship. He was second in command here. Lyda knew that chair was hers and was pleased; the Captain would not challenge that fact. He never sat there even when she was not on the bridge. Lyda walked over to the chair and sat. She leaned back and crossed her legs making herself comfortable. She carefully looked around the bridge for the slightest hint of disapproval over the missing officer. No one on the bridge dared to make eye contact with her. She was pleased; they all understood the order of things. This was her ship and that was the end of it.

"How soon can we begin the journey Captain?" Lyda asked rubbing the arms of the chair.

"All the preparations have been made and we are only awaiting your orders to proceed Commander." said the Captain.

"You have all done a wonderful job. My compliments to you and the crew." Lyda said smiling at the Captain. She was actually feeling happy. After so many months of waiting she finally had another opportunity to capture Mykala. She would most likely have to turn Mykala over to the emperor but she would have her revenge first that was certain.


End file.
